The Buffalo Bills (5-4) have announced that rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman will start on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers.
The decision has many fans and media outlets wondering why the change and why now. After all, the Bills have a record over .500, are second in the AFC East and in contention for a playoff spot.
But the problem is that the Bills have lost two in a row and in the competitive AFC that is reason enough to panic as they are now holding the sixth playoff spot and a handful of other teams are well in pursuit.
The Bills have a very good defense and the coaching staff is probably thinking that on offense the quarterback is the position holding the team back because after all Taylor ranks 25th in passing yards (1,684) and 23rd in passing touchdowns (10).
Even though he rarely throws interceptions Taylor is just an average quarterback who misses throws from the pocket and way too often checks down to underneath receivers failing to move the ball quickly.
Taylor has also failed to bring his team back when the Bills have fallen behind in games and head coach Sean McDermott may think that Nathan Peterman will give them a better chance of competing in the closing stretch of the season.
Why? perhaps because after 11 weeks in he thinks that Taylor has failed to become a leader and difference maker that can lead his team not only to comeback victories but to the playoffs.
Also, because most likely the Bills coaching staff has realized that with Taylor at the helm if teams find a way to stop the Bills running game they pretty much shut them down. Teams are stacking the box and daring the Bills to throw to beat them and Taylor so far hasn’t been up to the task.
McDermott is confident that with this move he will shake up his team and prove to the other starters that if you don’t perform at a high level you will be held accountable.
Good move to send a message, but probably the wrong time to do it because the Bills don’t have a seasoned veteran on the bench and thus should have probably kept Taylor as a starter until the Bills were eliminated from playoff contention before giving a chance to a rookie quarterback.
After all, expecting a rookie quarterback to come in this late in the season and lead your team to the playoffs is the kind of mistake we can expect from a rookie head coach such as McDermottt.
